Culture in International Construction
Wilco Tijhuis and Richard Fellows (2012)
Culture in International Construction
Wilco Tijhuis and Richard Fellows (2012)
Preface
The growth of information technology (IT) and the rise of many international and interdisciplinary joint
ventures create new issues within the construction sector. The success of a project is no longer only
dependent on technical know-how, but relationships with stakeholders become more important. It
can also be stated that despite the wide range of technologies involved in the construction sector, it
still relies on people, it is a people’s business. A people’s business means that things might change due
to circumstances around you (e.g., a pandemic), automation in construction is going on, but people
have still the lead in this process.
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Construction is a labour-intensive industry, whit physical artefacts as output by the industry. It is of
great importance for human society. However, not only these physical artefacts are important, but
also the socio-economic processes involved by producing and maintain their stock in useful condition.
Public and private organisations were for a long time separated within the construction industry, but
nowadays various forms of public-private partnerships (PPP) arise. Within PPPs the public sector
contracts services from the private sector. Private resources are used, including the know-how to
construct more efficient and with fewer risks. PPPs can be efficient and innovative due to more private
money that is invested.
In the ‘traditional’ separation of design and construction process there is a highly complex set of
relationship. This ‘traditional’ legal relationship between a contractor and a client is sometimes
referred to as the ‘classic triangle’. This refers to the fact that the client first enters into a contract with
a designer or consultant (under The New Rules 2011) for the design of the project, followed by a
contract with a contractor for the execution of that design (under the Uniform Administrative
Conditions 2012). Within integrated contracts, the contractor takes care of both the design and
execution of the works. These days the ‘main’ contractor takes the work, but all construction
operations are carried out by subcontractors. The ‘main’ contractor in this case does not more than
managing the operations of the subcontractors. It can be concluded that working within the
construction industry changed over the years. Not only the way of working changed but also the nature
of financing projects. Where contractors received funds at short time intervals based on their progress,
these days they receive revenues over a long period in which they operate the project.
Construction is a social process, and the outputs are social products. The products and the processes
continually impact the lives of people (e.g., providing shelter, employment, aesthetics, or intrusion,
depletions and pollution). The products of the construction industry can be seen as physical and
economic capital. Besides, projects aid the development of social capital and provide accommodation
for social institutions.
Social institutions provide systems of social positions which are interconnected by social relations.
Social capital is the sum of the resources (both actual and virtual) that are available to an individual
group. These networks may arise formally through processes and documentation or informal through
personal contacts and meetings. It must be considered that one of the underlying problems within
construction projects are the formal relationships (due to contracts and standard procedures). This
discourages parties to create a formation of extensive relational networks. Social capital may be
Summary of the Book Page 1 of 16 Written by Wilco Jonker (2021)
,Culture in International Construction
Wilco Tijhuis and Richard Fellows (2012)
analysed using three dimensions: (1) structural – positions of the actors in the structure of
relationships, (2) relational – investigates the features of relationships and trust, and (3) cognitive –
norms and common values of behaviour.
Human capital comprises the skills and abilities of persons, this can be at an individual level or an
organisation level. Human capital relates to an individual’s abilities, social capital concerns
relationships between individuals, and physical capital comprises artefacts.
Internationalisation and globalisation bring more complexities within the construction industry. The
movement of people across national borders take place and organisations start operating in various
countries. This is generating much more diverse mixtures of cultures (different nationalities work
together for example), but it also starts changing cultures more rapidly (we are more connected with
other cultures which result in adapting to each other). The term ‘glocalisation’ is therefore used, which
means that an organisation is globalising its overall identity but tailoring itself to the requirements of
each locality in which it operates.
An important aspect discussed in this book is culture. There are many definitions of culture, Hofstede
defined culture as ‘the collective programming of the mind which distinguished one category of people
from another’. Thus, culture is a construct that concerns people in groups whereas personality relates
to individuals. Culture is not only based on origin but there are many levels of culture. This can be seen
in a cultural spectrum. The main distinction can be made between a national culture which is ‘the
collective programming of the mind which distinguished people from a nation to another’ and
organisational culture is ‘the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of
one organisation from another’. In all cases, culture behaves according to the norms (and tolerance)
which are set and moderated by own personalities. Culture does not only occur at a level of ethnic and
nationality but also within the same ethnic group and socio-economic stratum there are differences.
For example, Dutch engineers (same ethnic and nationality) work differently than Dutch architects. In
a construction project where various members of various disciplines are assembled to construct and
design a project, there are thus different cultures present. There are several reasons for investing in
knowing about culture in construction. For example, know what to expect (what would your users do?)
what is the way of working of people within a company? and to know about different understandings
(what may lead to clashes).
Joint ventures became popular within the construction industry. This is a form of cooperation between
companies in which the parties chose to not merge into one single company and lose their own identity
but keep their own company identity within the cooperation. A formal joint venture is a particular
category of a business alliance, while an informal joint venture is seen much more as a generic
relationship between companies. A joint venture is a popular ‘solution’ when a company want to
operate in a foreign country. The company enters into a business alliance with an existing company in
a foreign country to gain knowledge about the culture, and to execute the construction tasks together.
Chapter 2 – Construction, a globalising business
The world is more connected than in the past, thanks to internet access, information is easily
exchanged between countries. This process of interaction and integration among people, companies,
and governments worldwide is called globalisation. Or in other words, we are more dependent on
different regions in the world. For example, if a ship gets stuck in a major waterway and causes delays
for other ships, there is a global problem since international transport is hampered.
There are three categories of infrastructure vital for globalisation, these are energy, transport, and
information. The reason, therefore, is that they facilitate the movement and processing of other
Summary of the Book Page 2 of 16 Written by Wilco Jonker (2021)
, Culture in International Construction
Wilco Tijhuis and Richard Fellows (2012)
resources, such as raw materials, labour, and goods. Before a company starts working in a foreign
country there must be a need to expand the business further than the home market. This growth
possibility is for example the start of exporting products to other countries. The company must be
aware of communication difficulties and consequent performance problems that are more likely to
occur within the international arena.
Internet is a facilitator of global communication; however, one must be aware that this medium is only
a set of tools and does not resolve communication and cultural differences. It also makes ‘real-time’
communication and remote access to construction sites possible. Besides, IT solutions can provide
automated processes such as calculations for construction. However, care must be taken not to
become too dependent on automated processes. Software packages can become ‘black boxes’, the
input is processed to output (results) but there is a danger that humans have not the knowledge to
understand these outputs or cannot reproduce the same as the software packages do.
To regulate the import and export of goods some countries made agreements. Most countries in
Europe for example are members of the European Unions (EU). When countries work together, such
as the EU, for example, this is called regional integration. In the EU, legislation is also in place to allow
persons to move freely between member states. An international non-profit organisation that
increases political and economic cooperation among its member countries is the United Nations (UN).
The UN reduce international tensions, promote human rights, and reduce the possibility of other large-
scale conflicts. A fundamental objective of many evolving international alliances such as the EU and
World Trade Organisation (WTO) is the removal of barriers that restrict trade. The barriers to be
removed include quotas and tariffs on movements of goods across national borders as well as
restrictions on activities permitted in a country by foreign firms. However, some policies and
instruments protect the domestic economy or industry of an individual country.
Transparency and corruption are important points to address. Transparency concerns the
development of a system in which actions are fair and reasonable for all stakeholders involved and
following that system, so all actions are proper and justified. The requirements for transparency can
be found in morals and manifested in ethics, social institutions, and the law. Ethics concern how the
actions of one person may impact others, so imposing a ‘duty of care’ not to harm others. There need
to be trust and avoidance of corruption. An ‘audit trial’ can be used to increase transparency, since
this is a redescribed procedural path to check actions documents that are accurate and complaint. On
the other hand, corruption can be described as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. This
illegal, bad, or dishonest behaviour is especially notable by people in positions of power. Different
forms of corruption can be distinguished such as bribery (=omkoping), lobbying, extortion (=afpersing),
cronyism/nepotism (=vriendjespolitiek), graft (=omkoping), and embezzlement (=verduistering).
Despite these cons of corruption, it can be used to speed processes or to make something occur.
In Figure 1, the holistic cycle of organisational development can be seen. This represents organisational
constructs that cycle through time to model organisational development.
Summary of the Book Page 3 of 16 Written by Wilco Jonker (2021)
